Title

Author

Date of Conferral

2018

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Public Health

Advisor

Hadi Danawi

Abstract

Pancreatic carcinoma or pancreatic cancer (PaCa) is an insidious disease with a prognosis of 6- to 12-month survival time for a late stage diagnosis. This problem has become crucial given that no study to date had been able to establish a definitive association between independent factors (other than a few diseases) and the survival rate of pancreatic cancer. The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to determine whether an association exists between the independent, sociodemographic variables (marital status, age, education, income, and employment) and the outcome variable of survival rate. The social cognitive theory was the framework that provided the blueprint throughout the development of this study and helped guide the analysis of the secondary data, which was procured from the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results program. The sample of 56,166 participants was collected from 2009 to 2013 and Cox proportional hazard was used to analyze the data and arrive at the answers to the research hypotheses. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to analyze whether an association existed between each of the independent variables and the outcome variable. The analysis showed significant association between age, education, income, and employment and survival rate. It was not the same for marital status. These findings could stimulate social change by allowing stakeholders and other policy makers to become aware of the role that sociodemographic factors can play in health care. In addition, a need exists for effective research to be undertaken in the prevention and intervention of this disease. This could then lead to private and public health innovations and procedures to benefit patients with PaCa.